Frank G. Swarner III

That has eat me written all over it....looks like its about to squiggle out of the vice on its own!! Frank

Awesome work!! It will look great in a frame!! Frank

Drool......... I am imagining that in the sunshine swinging throug a nice choppy run.

Sweet.....awesome body work!!

Nice....they work good as an east coast crwyfish pattern too!!

That is great weaving work....kudos!!

that looks like a sweet little producer..nice work!!

Awesome fly...I'd tie and fish that in a heartbeat.

Thank you. Nothing special or exotic, plain old saddle hackle.

Pretty interesting ideas!!

Way to go Celeste!! Congrats Mike.....hope she is making a speedy recovery!!

Thank you and yes I plan on fishing for steelhead next fall.

I haven't tied anything somewhat classic as far as salmon flies go, but needed a break from the trout flies so I decided on something similar to one of Blackers' Spirit Flies.....#3 I have always found striking. I didn't take it to those lengths, and didn't match the "pattern" exactly, I just wanted to tie something in a similar "spirit." It was also a fly that would be challenging due to the "body joints" along with it being the first "topping fly" I've attempted. The head turned out a bit big but shapely.....and it definitely needs another coat or two. The hook is an AJ size 1 bronze Tip: Small oval tinsel - silver Tag: Silk Floss - red Tail: GP topping Butt: Ostrich Herl - black Body: 3 sections of Silk Floss - blue, Chartreuse, Orange - Last Section purple seal dubbing Body Joints: Two turns of Med Oval tinsel - Gold, matching color hackle, and Ostrich Herl Black Throat: Hackle to match purple seal dubbing Cheeks: Asian Kingfisher dyed purple Wing: GP toppings - 8 total

Way to go Rocky....Happy Birthday!!

that's DA BOMB Joe.

Bruce, Looks great......awesome body work. Try doing half as many ribs for a sparser look. Check out shewey's book.....I forget the page #.....there is a small color drawing/painting of a few wing materials. There is a big hint in that little drawing/painting. Noticed how it says "prepared" and take notice of the barring....more importantly their alignment....and compare that to a real feather. Pryce Tannat does it a little different and the points meet on the bottom and not on the top. You have to try each method and find what suits you when it comes to spey and dee flies.

They look great Bruce!! A little refining and your there!! I agree with what has been mentioned as well. I'm a bit of a stickler, so I wouldn't consider the flies without wings as "spey flies". More like a spider type fly or long hackled wet fly A bigger hook will help you to "get in the groove," then you can go smaller if you wish. Spey flies are sparse and I almost always strip one side of the hackle I am using for the body and the throat. After I have them both wrapped I take my thumb and forefinger and pull the hackles down below the hook shank (trying to part them down the middle on the top of the hook shank). I'll do this a few times and moisten my finger to keep them in place when mounting the wings. I trim any errant fibers on top of the hook shank and most times I trim all of the throat fibers that are on top of the hook shank as well. This helps to set the wing low and since there are less fibers to disrupt the bronze mallard wing. Try to tie the bronze mallard in by the base of the fibers where the gray fibers are located. There are softer and the "velcro-like" fibers help to hold the wing together better. I find it tough to size bronze mallard for smaller hooks. I'm sure you'll find your sweet spot for hook size and hackle length. Most traditional spey flies don't have tails, but as you know, the fish don't know what traditional is, nor do they know what a spey fly is either. I know I would fish any of those flies!! Great work so far Bruce....can't wait to see the next batch!! Frank

I really like this one Paul......great tying!!

Thats just a sweet little fly!!

Gorgeous work Jens!! Hope you've been doing good!! Frank

Oh yeah....that's right down my alley. That fly is going to put the steelhead in a trance!!

That sure is purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrdy Mike.

Great fly Ray......I like the composition with this one.

Teal, Gadwell, Hungarian Partridge, Mallard, Blue breast feathers from a Peacock, Guinea, hen neck

If you look at the pattern recipe it says brown dubbing for the collar.